


A Prince and His Knight

by honorarystar



Category: Left 4 Dead 2
Genre: Knight!Nick, M/M, Prince!Ellis, prince AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-11
Updated: 2014-07-19
Packaged: 2018-01-04 09:27:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1079321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honorarystar/pseuds/honorarystar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ellis is a prince who isn't ready for the responsibility. Nick is one of his knights who is just hoping to have a little fun. Emotions and responsibility get in the way of that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [vintage_masquerade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vintage_masquerade/gifts).



> Rated M for future chapters. There will be smut

 Once upon a time there was a prince named Ellis. He had a sister, the princess, named Zoey. The king's name was Bill. When the prince and princess were just children, their mother passed away. Now they are reaching adulthood. One more gracefully than the other.

* * *

 

A loud crashing sound echoed throughout the west wing of the castle. Almost everyone, including the king, just rolled their eyes. Everybody was so used to the shenanigans of the prince and his friend Kieth.

Zoey didn't want to deal with her childish older brother though.

“Ellis!” She stuck her head out of her bedroom and shouted, “Kieth!”

The boys were at the bottom of the staircase, sprawled out on the floor after they had finished tumbling down them during an impromptu wrestling match.

Ellis looked up at her bashfully, adjusted his blue hat, and said, “Sorry Zo.'”

Zoey tried her best not to crack a smile, but, despite her best efforts, she couldn't resist laughing at her ridiculous older brother's crooked grin and flushed cheeks.

“One of these days you're going to be the one that gets hurt instead of Kieth,” Zoey called down at them with a shake of her head.

“Naw,” Kieth answered with a silly smile, “I wouldn't let that happen.” The red head lifted himself up and Ellis followed. They headed down the hallway towards the throne room in order to leave Ellis' little sister alone and Zoey shut her bedroom door, still chuckling at the two of them. They had had been friends since they were just three years old. Twenty years later and they didn't act much different.

The two young men were playing one of their games where they try to see who can take the biggest steps. It worked better when they were kids. And the same height. Now Kieth is just a little bit taller, but enough to make sure he wins and Ellis usually ends up falling on the ground. Or curled up in pain after that one time he stretched his legs a little too far and hurt himself in a very delicate area.

“Why is it that you're always the one who gets hurt?” Ellis asked tilting his head up to look at his friend.

“'Cause you're a lucky son of a bitch,” Kieth looked down at Ellis and started walking normally.

Ellis frowned and looked down at the floor before muttering indignantly, “Well that ain't fair.”

He stopped in his tracks when Kieth started laughing and looked at him incredulously. The red head was bent at the waist and wiping tears out of his eyes before long. Ellis continued to stare until Kieth stood up, one hand on his stomach, and wrapped one arm around the smaller man's shoulders, forcing him to keep in stride with him.

“Leave it to you to get upset because you _don't_ get horribly injured on a weekly basis,” Kieth said fondly.

Ellis couldn't resist his contagious smile and before long they were elbowing, shoving, and tripping each other down the hallway. Ellis had started running in order to get away from Kieth who was trying to stick his foot in Ellis' path. Ellis came to an abrupt stop when they rounded a corner and almost ran into Bill and his two advisers, Louis and Francis. Kieth didn't manage to stop in time and plowed into Ellis from behind, making Ellis bump into his dad.

Both boys looked up fearfully at Bill who was glaring at them.

“I thought I heard you two tromping around up here,” Bill scolded.

“S-sorry Dad,” Ellis stammered. His eyes shifted to the other two men, and caught Francis smirking and Louis with his usual grin. “We'll try to keep it down.”

Bill glanced at Kieth, who was beaming at him, and back at his son. “Sure,” Bill replied exasperatedly, “Just don't break anything again.”

He pushed through the two of them (ignoring Kieth's salute) and continued down the hallway for a few steps before calling over his shoulder, “I expect to see you in the dining room bright and early tomorrow morning, Ellis. No sleeping in.”

He had disappeared around a corner before Ellis let out a small huff of air that came out sounding more like a whimper than he meant it to.

“Ha,” Kieth started walking again, stopping at the window to see the sun setting. “Oh shit, what time is it? I gotta get home.” If he was late for dinner again his mom would probably lock him out of the house again.

“You comin' back when you're done?” Ellis shouted at Kieth's shrinking figure, running down the main hall.

“Yeah, see ya!” Kieth shouted back over his shoulder and in the time he spent not looking forward he managed to trip and fall on his face. Not that that stopped him. He stood up, barely pausing, and kept running. Ellis laughed at his oblivious, clumsy friend.

Ellis was still chuckling when he entered the throne room.

“What's so funny?” A gruff voice asked.

Ellis whipped his body around to notice the figure leaning against the wall next to the doorway.

“Jesus, man, nearly scared me to death,” Ellis placed his hand over his pounding heart.

He was smirking at Ellis now, obviously enjoying the effect his unexpected question had on the prince.

“What do you want Nick?” Ellis glared at the man. He was always lurking in the shadows of the castle. He was probably the most intimidating knight that Ellis knew. The only person Ellis ever really saw him talk to was Francis.

“I asked you a question,” Nick said like it was obvious. He pushed himself off of the wall and took a step toward Ellis, causing Ellis to reflexively take a step back. The prince pretended not to notice Nick's smirk get bigger.

“Oh,” Ellis started smiling again when he remembered what he had been laughing at. “Well Kieth was-”

Nick held up a hand to stop Ellis from continuing his story, “Say no more. I'm sure whatever that idiot did was hilarious,” Nick said sarcastically.

“Well you just hate fun, don't you?” Ellis asked, only half joking.

“Yes,” Nick said with a roll of his eyes and took another step toward Ellis, “I hate fun. I hate it with a passion. And I hate anyone who has fun.”

“You hate me?” The younger man asked with wide eyes. Nick was getting closer to him, now just a few inches away and Ellis could feel his face heating up with embarrassment at their close proximity.

Nick smirked for a second and looked Ellis up and down before saying, “I guess you're the exception.”

Ellis gulped and Nick pulled away, starting to make his way out of the throne room. Before he left, he paused at the door and said, “If you want to have some fun meet me at the gate at midnight.”

Ellis' heart was beating erratically for the next few hours.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We still haven't gotten into much Nellis happening, but chapter 3 I promise is going to be so full of Nick and Ellis you will throw up

 Ellis was fidgeting and twitching nervously in his seat all throughout dinner. He couldn't even manage to eat any of his food, just pushing it around his plate and trying to ignore the curious stares he was getting from his sister and father.

He didn't want it to be too obvious that he was distracted because they would question him and he didn't really have any answers that he was willing to give them.

As soon as they had finished eating, Ellis excused himself and walked out of the dining room. When he reached the corridor he ran to his bedroom, shutting the door behind him firmly.

Then he started pacing.

_Are you really considering going out there with him?_ Ellis asked himself. _It's not like he's a murderer!_ He tried to reason with his own thoughts, but it didn't really get him anywhere. _You don't know that! You don't anything about him! No one does!_

Wait a minute. A thought occurred to him. One person does.

_Francis!_ Ellis was out his door and sprinting through the halls with that thought pushing him the whole way. He slowed down and nodded politely every time someone walked by and continued running as soon as the coast was clear.

If anyone knows anything about Nick it's going to be Francis. Now Ellis just needs to figure out how to ask about him without Francis getting suspicious and asking questions of his own. Ellis believed he could do it though. He's pretty smooth if he does say so himself.

Ellis, distracted by his own thoughts, had just rounded a corner and slammed into a well muscled body. When he looked up he was actually relieved to see Francis' scowling face.

“Why are you running? And into me?” Francis asked pushing Ellis back a little bit by the shoulders.

“I was actually, uh, lookin' for you,” Ellis could feel his face flushing so he pulled his hat down to cover his face some.

“Why?” The larger man asked him, his scowl growing with suspicion.

“Um, well, I kinda wanted to ask you a-a question about somebody,” Ellis stammered getting more nervous. _What if he doesn't even answer? What if he goes and tells Dad? Or worse. Nick._

“Well then ask,” Francis' eyes were narrowing more and more with each second that passed in Ellis' silence.

“Um, okay, so, what could you maybe tell me about...uh... Nick?” Ellis asked hesitantly, keeping his eyes down.

“Nick?” Francis sounded surprised causing Ellis to glance up. All signs of his previous scowling was gone, replaced by genuine surprise. And possibly curiosity?

“Y-yeah.”

“Well, I mean, what do you want to know about him?”

Now that Francis was being cooperative Ellis went all out. Perhaps a little to out.

“What's he like? What does he do for fun? Does he like horses? How old is he? How long have you been friends? Does he have any family? Has he ever ki-”

“Okay, okay,” Francis interrupted, “Slow down. I don't know _that_ muchabout him.”

Ellis was quiet for a moment and stared at the larger man with a hopeful look in his wide eyes.

Francis rolled his eyes and sighed before answering as much as he could.

“Okay. I guess he likes going to bars? Playing cards?” Francis looked unsure, but his eyes lit up when he said with a laugh, “Oh and he definitely likes horses. Just not the way you do.”

Ellis gave him a disgusted look and said, “What the hell is that supposed to mean? He doesn't... I mean... He isn't like-”

“Oh God no,” The color drained from his face and Francis stopped smirking and waved his hands to get Ellis to stop talking. “That is not what I meant. At all. I meant that he likes eating horse meat.”

“Ohhhh,” The younger man said with relief. Then his disgusted face returned. “That's gross though. Horses are for ridin' not eatin'.”

“That is not nearly as gross as what you were thinking kid.”

Ellis shrugged in agreement and looked at Francis expectantly.

“Alright, um, he doesn't have any family. That I know for sure. I guess I've been friends with the guy since you were little and we were teenagers. I don't know exactly how old he is, but he's a little younger than me. I think,” Francis looked up like he was trying to remember.

That's when Ellis heard the sound of running coming towards them, but he couldn't stand back soon enough before Kieth came barreling around the corner just like he had done earlier. He ran into Ellis and Ellis ran into Francis' chest for the second time.

“Jesus Christ. You need to learn how to slow down when you go around a corner man,” Francis said after pushing them both away.

“S-sorry,” Ellis stammered, his face face bright red. He did not want Francis to say anything about their conversation in front of Kieth. Or for Kieth to ask what they were talking about.

“Whatever,” Francis rolled his eyes and walked around them. He disappeared quickly, following the path he was before Ellis had bombarded him with his questions.

Ellis sighed in relief and smiled brightly at Kieth.

“What's up man?” Ellis clapped a hand on Kieth's shoulder, steering him down the hall, “How're the brothers?”

“Dumber than you. And that's saying a lot,” Kieth grinned and tried to duck away from Ellis' fist that was aimed at his shoulder. Instead of ducking away to safety he managed to run into a set of armor, sending it to the ground with a loud crash. The two boys ran away laughing and spent the rest of the evening hiding in different parts of the castle.


	3. Chapter 3

 Ellis was sitting on his bed for a few hours after Kieth had gone home. He was staring at the wall with his eyebrows drawn together in concentration. He was trying to make his decision. Should he go? Should he stay? Would he get caught?

He looked out his window and saw the bright, white light of the moon illuminating the court yard. It looked like it was time to go. If he was planning on even going. He still hadn't made his decision. There were still questions and worries racing through his head.

One question was louder than all the others though. _Was sneaking out to see Nick worth the trouble he would get in if he got caught?_

With that as inspiration, he was on his feet and moving towards his balcony. It was the quickest route to the main gate, but he would have to extra stealthy (and Ellis was so good at being discreet).

He opened one door and slid though, leaving it open just a crack so he could get back in later. Once he was out there he moved to the edge of the stone balcony so he could look around for guards or any sign that he would get caught. After a minute of inspection he moved over to the wall next to the balcony and hopped up on the ledge.

He's used this way as an escape route multiple times to sneak out with Kieth when they were little, but he hasn't done that in a while.

He tried to remember the safe spots to put his feet and hands as he cautiously hung on to the pieces of stone that jutted out from the wall. It wasn't too high up and there were bushes directly below, so when he managed to get most of the way down the wall (and only lost his footing a few times) he let go of the stone and let himself drop down. The bushes didn't feel as cushiony as they did a few years ago.

Ellis stood up and hung close to the shadows of the castle as he looked around once more for any guards.

After seeing none he took off into the maze of hedges that wove around the court yard. He and Kieth and Zoey had gotten lost in here too many times to count when they played hide and seek in it, but Ellis had managed to memorize certain paths for when he wanted get to the gate without being seen.

When he took his final step out of the shadows of the mazes he saw a dark figure leaning against the stone pillar on the gate. It stepped out of the shadows at the same time Ellis did and he realized that it was Nick, he just wasn't wearing his usual white and blue attire. Well he was, Ellis noticed as Nick got closer to him, but he was wearing a black cloak over top of it.

“What took you so long, Kid?” Nick asked once he was just a couple of feet away from Ellis.

“Um, well, I had to sneak out a little bit,” Ellis said bashfully as he rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and refused to meet Nick's eyes.

Ellis could see Nick's smirk in the moon light and it made him smile a little too.

“So where are we going?” Ellis had finally looked Nick in the eyes.

“Follow me,” Nick walked away and started along the wall, keeping to the shadows.

Ellis jogged a little to catch up with the man, but slowed down once he was right next to him. Ellis looked over out of the corner of his eye every few seconds just to make sure he was still there. It made sense now that he was wearing the cloak, his clothes would stand out like a sore thumb in contrast to the darkness around them.

“So where are we going?” Ellis asked again.

“You'll see in a minute,” Nick told him noncommittally.

“Can't you even give me a hint or somethin'?”

“What?” The older man turned his head so he could look right at Ellis. “I'm not going to get you killed. Don't you trust me?”

Ellis hesitated for a minute and narrowed his eyes before saying, “Not really.”

Ellis was surprised when the older man chuckled and shook his head, looking forward again.

“Good,” Nick muttered.

That was the last of the conversation between the two men for a while. Just as Ellis was about to round the corner Nick slammed a hand into his chest to pull him back. Ellis opened his mouth to question him when Nick moved them both further into the shadows and pressed his hand over Ellis' mouth to silence the younger man. They both glared at each other until a guard walked right through the path that Ellis had almost stepped right into.

Nick took his hand off of Ellis' mouth and stepped out of his personal space after they were safe. Nick continued walking in the opposite direction than the guard had gone in and, after staring at Nick's back for a moment, Ellis followed after the older man.

They walked next to each other in silence for a little while until Ellis took a look around and realized where they were going.

They reached the edge of the fence that lined the pasture and Ellis paused. He looked over his shoulder at nick expectantly and saw that the man had started walking into the woods.

“Um, hey, Nick, where're you going?” Ellis asked with a little nervousness creeping into his voice.

“Follow me, Kid,” Nick called over his shoulder. He didn't turn around or wait for Ellis to catch up before disappearing into the darkness.

Ellis jogged, not wanting to be left alone, but didn't see Nick when he steeped out of the safety of the moon light and into the dangerous darkness of the trees. He kept walking forward, figuring that Nick would have followed the gaps in the trees.

When Ellis stepped through a gap between two trees he ended up in a small clearing. It was just a circle, free of trees, that was lit up by the moon light. Ellis looked around and saw Nick leaning against a tree, watching him. Ellis thought he saw one corner of Nick's mouth twitch upward a little before he noticed what was also next to the tree with Nick.

Standing behind the man in the dark cloak were two horses. Ellis realized that one of them was actually his. He had had it since his mom was still alive and the two of them had named it Rose. She was a dark brown color with white socks around her two front legs. The other horse was completely black with a mane longer than Rose's.

Ellis realized that Nick must have gotten the horses out here before he had gone to meet Ellis at the gate. And that Nick had known which horse was Ellis'.

Ellis looked from the horses to Nick and realized that he had a stupid grin on his face. He was about to look down with a blush or try to cover his face with his hat, but it didn't look like Nick minded. If Ellis were feeling more ballsy he would even say that it looked like Nick was trying not to smile back.

But Ellis was not feeling ballsy. And Nick smoothed over his now expressionless face before pushing himself off of the tree and looking pointedly at Ellis.

“You ready to go or what?” He asked and Ellis nodded vigorously before rushing forward to mount his horse next to Nick's.


	4. Chapter 4

 Nick was leaning in the doorway of the dining room the next morning. He had been waiting for Ellis to show up for breakfast, but so far the kid hadn't appeared.

Bill and Zoey looked equally displeased at Ellis' absence, but honestly it's not like this was a first. Nick rarely, if ever, saw Ellis awake before midday and today was no exception. Especially after being out until almost dawn last night.

Nick smirked to himself when he remembered how scared Ellis had looked when the first rays of sunshine started to peak over the horizon.

“Rochelle,” Nick looked up and across the long hall when the King spoke, “Would you wake up my son and tell him to meet me in the throne room.” Bill stood from the table and left with a quiet anger in his walk without another word.

Francis looked like he was about to follow, but he hesitated and turned towards Nick instead. He marched over with a look of annoyed determination across his features.

Nick stood up straight when he was approached and forced a dull look in his eyes when he acknowledged the other man with a curt nod.

“Hey,” Francis said gruffly, “I don't know what you and the _prince_ did last night, but it better not happen again anytime soon.”

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Nick replied with a confident smile.

“He's not just some kid, asshat. You're going to get him in trouble. Or even more trouble than he already gets into on his own. He doesn't need any help making the king mad from you.”

“Whatever you say,” Nick had already turned away with a roll of his eyes and tossed the words casually over his shoulder as he made his way out of the dining room.

They didn't _do_ anything last night, much to Nick's regret. It was literally just riding horses through the woods. Ellis had talked his ear off all night, it's not like Nick could a word in edge wise. He might as well had been Kieth for all that they got up to. Nick shivered in disgust at the thought.

He wound through all of the short cuts he knew (and he knew them all) in order to get to the hallway of Ellis' bedroom at the same time as Rochelle.

The petite woman bumped into his chest when she walked around the corner and Nick was there waiting.

“Oh, excuse me,” She tried to move around him without even looking at his face, but Nick moved at the same time so he stood in front of her again, forcing her to look up at him.

She took a step a back and looked him in the eye with a wary expression. Nick flashed her his most charming smile and tried not to look like as much of an asshole as usual. Needless to say, it was difficult and probably came across as creepy.

“Hi,” Nick tried, still smiling, “I was thinking, and how about I go wake up the kid for you? Just so you don't have to waste your time.”

Rochelle raised her eyebrows like she couldn't believe he thought this would work. Nick was starting to feel the same way.

“I don't think so,” Rochelle said matter-of-factually. “It's not a waste of my time and I'd really rather you not go in his room. Especially while he's asleep,” Rochelle tried to walk around him again, but this time Nick grabbed her wrist to stop her.

“Look sweetheart, I'm the reason he overslept and is now in trouble with his dad. I made him sneak out last night and I'd really appreciate it if you would let me go talk to him,” Nick explained, losing his patience.

Rochelle eyed him warily as he let go of her arm.

“Fine,” Rochelle said slowly, “I'll let you go in there, but I'll be nearby and if I think anything is going on in there I will not hesitate to go in and drag you out.”

“I'd like to see you try,” Nick returned her glare.

“Even if I couldn't, I know Francis would be more than happy to help me out.,” Rochelle smiled sweetly and walked away, leaving Nick in the corridor watching after her with his eyebrows raised.

_Okay_ , Nick thought with a grimace, _Now it's time to talk to Ellis...or something._

Nick stood in front of Ellis' bedroom door and his hand hovered over the handle. He shook his head and opened the door gently.

He stepped inside and immediately saw the prince's sleeping form on the bed in the middle of the room. The kid was on his stomach with his limbs stretched out. His sheets were only covering from his waist down and one of his legs was sticking out over the edge of the bed. Nick took a moment to glance over Ellis' tan, well muscled back before he kicked the door shut with a loud slam.

Ellis jerked awake and in the process he managed to tangle his legs in the sheets and fall to the floor.

Nick couldn't help but smirk. He barely held back his laughter.

Ellis stood up and wrapped his sheet around his waist before sitting down on the edge of the bed.

“Rise and shine, sport,” Nick said a little louder than necessary.

Ellis looked up at him as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

“What time is it?” Ellis asked with alarm when he saw the sun shining through the windows.

“Afternoon-ish.”

Ellis let his head fall forward and muttered, “Shit,” under his breath.

“Yeah. Your old man wants to see you,” Nick added, “You know, you really shouldn't stay out so late.”

Ellis glared at him, “'S your fault, man,” He flopped down so he was laying on his back and covered his face with his arms. Nick heard a muffled, “My dad's gonna kill me.”

Nick huffed out an amused laugh, “Yeah, probably.”

They were silent for a few minutes. Ellis just laid there in quiet frustration, Nick looking at Ellis' muscular torso. It was tan and smooth and Nick just kept looking. He wanted to see the rest of Ellis' body too. Whatever was hidden under the sheets. The older man wanted to touch and feel those lean muscles under his hands. He wanted to put his mouth-- Nick stopped that train of thought before it could go anywhere Nick really shouldn't be going right now.

Ellis had moved his arms so he could see Nick and what he saw almost scared him. Nick was staring at him and looked like he wanted to eat him.

The younger man slowly sat up and shifted so his blankets were covering a little more of his skin. He never looked away from Nick's face though. Once Ellis had started moving, the other man had shifted his stare from Ellis' chest to his face.

Ellis immediately blushed all the way down to his chest when he met the older man's eyes eyes.

Nick swallowed his urge to laugh at the kid's obvious embarrassment. He stepped forward until he could lean in less than an inch away from Ellis' reddening face.

He smirked and made sure that Ellis held his gaze, “How about you meet me in the stable tonight?”

Ellis visibly swallowed, but he nodded once.

Nick smiled at him and squeezed his thigh once before he straightened up and walked out of the room. Before he closed it, he said, “Your dad's waiting for you in the throne room by the way.”

Ellis couldn't get his legs to move for another five minutes.


	5. Chapter 5

Ellis was slightly ashamed to say that he was thinking more about Nick than he was about his dad after that encounter.

That probably wasn’t a good thing, right?

But he really couldn’t get him out of his head, it was ridiculous. Ellis had been in his room pacing for a good 10 minutes after he was finally able to get his legs to move again. And by that time he was a hell of a lot later to his meeting with his dad than was necessarily safe.

Ellis took some final deep breaths before he convinced himself to leave his room. He tried not to run down the halls on his way to the throne room, if he arrived in front of Bill out of breath and late, that would just add to his embarrassment.

When he reached the entrance he paused to peak around the corner and see if it was slightly safe.

He was not as sneaky as he’d hoped he’d be.

“Ellis,” Bill called from where he was sitting on the far side of the room. He was surrounded by stone and the majority of the light provided in the room was from the sun shining from the windows covering the expanse of the wall behind the throne, “I’m surprised you showed up at this point.”

Ellis winced at that.

“I’m real sorry, sir,” Ellis spoke loudly as he moved quickly, closer to where his dad was sitting, “I didn’t mea—”

“I know you didn’t mean to, son. That’s the problem.” Ellis sighed. He knew what was coming. “You never think about things. You just do. Or don’t in most cases. You’re too impulsive. You’re not rational. How are you going to be king like that?”

Ellis never was able to keep his mouth shut for long, “I just—”

“No, Ellis, you listen to me for once,” Bill commanded as he stood, his tone causing Ellis to snap his mouth shut, “You’re supposed to be responsible. You’re supposed to be the one to take over when I’m gone. At this point Zoey is more ready to rule a god damn kingdom than her older brother. She’s barely an adult for god’s sake!”

Ellis couldn’t look his father in the eye so he was forced to look down at the stone floor beneath him. He knew that everything being said was true. He just didn’t know what to do about it. Zoey had always been the responsible one, the one that had really taken care of Ellis more than the other way around, basically their entire lives. And he was okay with that. To be completely honest, being king was not a priority of his. But that wasn’t something that Bill would just accept.

“You need to get your shit together Ellis. I’m not always gonna be here to clean up your messes. And I won’t let you depend on Zoey to take care of you all your life,” Bill said more quietly.

“Yes, sir,” Ellis said under his breath, almost too quietly for the old man to hear.

“Thank you. Now then, on to my other piece of business,” Bill cleared his throat before continuing, “You haven’t been to any meetings lately with me and our advisors. There’s a whole lot of shit going on around us, son, and I need you to know what’s going on so you can help protect our home.”

Bill paused, probably hoping that Ellis would look up and finally meet his gaze. Ellis huffed out a breath and reluctantly looked up at his father with a determinedly blank look on his face.

“You’ll be attending all the council meetings from now on, no excuses. The first one is tomorrow morning. Before breakfast,” The king walked by Ellis and out of the room, calling over his shoulder before he was out of ear shot, “I will see you there,” with a sense of finality that left no room for arguments or question.

 _Well today got off to a right shitty start,_ Ellis thought. He wanted to go see Keith and talk to him about everything his dad had said. But Keith never really understood Ellis’ unwillingness to rule his own kingdom, he had always gone on about how amazing it would be to be Ellis and to be king one day. That’s just not quite how Ellis saw things. Plus now that he was done worrying about what his dad had to tell him, he couldn’t stop thinking about his experience with Nick this morning.

_Holy shit, he was in my room. He wants to meet me tonight. Alone. At night. Holy shit._

The rest of Ellis’ thoughts were generally along the same lines as that. Just some minor freaking out about the thought that this grumpy, slightly (okay very) handsome man wants to be alone with Ellis.

And if Ellis were to go talk to Keith right now, he would not be able to keep this whole thing with Nick to himself. Keeping things to himself was not his strong suit. And it would be a detrimentally awful thing if _anyone_ found out about whatever this was. For the prince especially, who knows how Nick would feel about it.

So for now it would be kept between himself and Nick. And kind of Francis. Oh hell, he forgot about Francis, what the hell is he going to be thinking about all this?

He’d have to talk to Nick about that. Although Nick did not seem too keen on _talking_ much from the impression that Ellis had gotten. Oh well, too bad for Nick, Ellis had to have at least some answers.

But now Ellis was even more amped up and nervous than he had been already. He was putting way too much thought into all this, right?

Ellis sighed and wandered out of the throne room. He lifted his hat off of his head to scratch at his wavy hair. For now he would go take out his frustration by stabbing some bales of hay with his sword behind the stable.

He was feeling worse now than he had when his dad had chewed him out.

At least he would get to see Nick later tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THERE'S GONNA BE PORN IN THE NEXT CHAPTER YAY
> 
> Follow me on [tumblr](http://honorarylady.tumblr.com/) it'll be fun


End file.
